System and method for interactive messaging and/or allocating and/or upgrading and/or rewarding tickets, other event admittance means, goods and/or services

Abstract

A method, system, server architecture and / or tangible medium upgrade and award admittance of events to an event customer, preferably via a data communication network. The method includes, for example, receiving a communication from the event customer, the communication including a request to obtain admittance to at least one event, the communication also including an identifier associated with the event customer, admitting the event customer at the point of sale system after verification of the request, and updating a database indicating that the request was processed. The method also includes determining first predetermined criteria associated with the event indicative of at least one other event customer not attending the event, releasing an allocation associated with the at least one other event customer, and notifying at least another of the event customers to perform the upgrade and / or reallocation.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 910,821, filed on Jul. 24, 2001 and entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD REALLOCATING AND / OR UPGRADING AND / OR REWARDING TICKETS, OTHER EVENT ADMITTANCE MEANS, GOODS AND / OR SERVICES,” which in turn claims priority from U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60 / 220,218 filed on Jul. 24, 2000 and entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REALLOCATING AND / OR UPGRADING TICKETS OR OTHER EVENT ADMITTANCE MEANS”, and U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60 / 226,594 filed on Aug. 21, 2000 and entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REALLOCATING AND / OR UPGRADING TICKETS OR OTHER EVENT ADMITTANCE MEANS”, and the details of all the above referenced application are hereby incorporated by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates generally to purchasing and provisioning items or services online for reallocating and / or upgrading and / or rewarding tickets and / or other goods / services, and more particularly,...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0052] Thus, to address the above and other needs of the prior art, it is a feature and advantage of the present invention to provide users with the ability to be awarded, reallocated, upgraded and / or reprovisioned purchase items including tickets and concessions and / or other merchandise and / or services online. By doing so, the present invention allows these users to proceed directly to the event and / or receive the goods and / or services, thereby bypassing any box offices. In addition, the present invention allows purchases of a variety of items such as movie tickets, concessions, movie merchandise, and / or other goods or services using the processes and architecture described herein or other standard platforms. The present invention facilitates these purchases and the subsequent provisioning thereof by utilizing an identification device associated with a user's account which, in turn, is readable by a reader at a point of sale location for verifying the purchases made by the user. The identification device can be, for example, a smart card and / or wireless device with infrared and / or bluetooth enabled, or other standard wireless device, including those described herein.

[0053] It is also another optional feature and advantage, alone or in combination with one or more other features, of the present invention to facilitate the provisioning of demographic information to program sponsors. By having each user register demographic information such as age and interests during, for example an initialization process, the present invention compiles information for advertising and marketing use. Using this information, the present invention allows event sponsors to create custom offerings to users. Similarly, the invention allows a sponsor to leverage user and market information to create programs that address evolving user needs for targeting and acquiring new customers.

[0054] It is another optional feature and advantage of the present invention to provide marketing opportunities for the events themselves and / or event related merchandise at an entertainment site. This allows users to shop for tickets, concessions, and event-related merchandise at a single time and location.

[0055] It is yet another optional feature and advantage of the present invention to apply these concepts to a wide variety of venues such as movies, concerts, sporting events, cultural activities, reserved seating events, events requiring advanced ticket purchase, and / or other similar and analogous events or settings where goods and / or services can be sold, including upgraded, awarded and / or reprovisioned.

[0056] To accomplish the above and other features, in one embodiment of the present invention, a user first visits a leading portal, for example, Yahoo!, and selects an event and a desired time. Next, the user is linked to a server, where he or she purchases a ticket and / or concessions and other merchandise with, for example, a credit card, in a secure transaction. The event ticket is then transferred to the user's account, which in turn is associated with a smart card and / or wireless device in the possession of the user. With the smart card / wireless device in hand, the user avoids any box office lines and proceeds directly to an attendant or a point of sale (POS) server or system. The user then presents the smart card to the attendant or POS who reads the smart card using a reading device. After reading the smart card, the attendant or POS accesses the user's account and verifies that a ticket has indeed been purchased before admitting the user. Once the user is at the event, as described below, the user has the functionality to be upgraded, reallocated and / or rewarded tickets.

[0057] For example, in one embodiment of the invention, the process begins as all tickets are checked in, for example, as the patrons enter the reserved seating area, such as a stadium or theater, through, for example, bar code readers, scanners, infrared readers, and / or manually or other method where the patron is checked in, either at the gate, seat or other location. For example, patrons can optionally check in a predetermined time before the event through a wireless device, Internet connection, manual or voice recognition telephone, or other manner. The important point is to provide a standard manner for allowing patrons to check in, and if the patron fails to check in using a predetermined procedure to allow that seat to be provided to another willing patron in accordance with a process to be described below.

Problems solved by technology

However, while Leatherman discusses purchasing items at a gas station, it makes no disclosure of effectively provisioning and / or performing transactions in the entertainment and / or ticketing industry.

Nevertheless, Walker makes no mention of allowing redemption of the purchases at a point of sale location upon identification or verification of the purchaser or of the purchase.

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